No White Knight
by Princess Laubie
Summary: One-Shot from Magnus' POV. My take on the scene where Magnus heals Alec after he is injured by the Greater Demon Abbadon in COB. Please leave feedback and make my day - let me know what you think! And check out my other (longer) Malec fics, which can be accessed through my profile :-)


Magnus rushed through the doors of the Institute, which were, strangely, wide open and permitted his entrance.  
He hadn't really stopped to think about what he was doing, but he knew Alexander Lightwood needed help.

"Or he will die." The Fire Message had said.

And Magnus had portalled directly outside the Institute as quickly as he could. He knew Alec would be in the Infirmary and he swung the doors of the lift violently aside and bolted in long strides down the old corridors, ornately adorned with the scene of the Mortal Instruments, towards the room. He strode in confidently, though his body screamed silently when he saw the boy on the bed. He was deathly pale and there was blood everywhere. He was breathing, thank god, though it was shallow and uneven. His sister was smoothing his hair.

She looked up when she heard the sound of his footsteps.

"Magnus?"  
"What happened?" he asked her, peering down at Alec, his eyes tightly shut against his pain and his chest rising and falling slowly and at odd intervals.

"We fought a greater demon – it poisoned him with its talons."  
"Healing runes aren't working?"

"No, not at all." Isabelle was barely holding it all together.

"Has he had anything for the pain?"  
"Hodge gave him some morphine and sedated him."

Magnus placed his hand delicately over Alec's. It was as cold as ice.

"Ok, get out," he told her bluntly.

Isabelle looked startled and began to stammer at him.  
"I fully intend to save him but I need space. Please Isabelle, this is his best chance." Magnus looked into her eyes, trying to reassure her. She began to cry but gave a short, curt nod before she leant down and kissed her brother tenderly on his cheek. As she rose and left the room Magnus noticed her wiping a little bit of Alec's blood away from her cheek where she had come into contact with it.

His gaze followed her out of the room and he shut the door magically behind her. He was alone with Alec now and Magnus drew back the covers to inspect the damage. It was bad. The poor boy had lost a lot of blood and his injuries looked severe.

Magnus laid a blanket across him and made his clothes vanish with a flick of his wrist: he needed to see the full extent, but the blanket allowed Alec to retain his modesty. Alec had wide, poisoned gashes across his torso, which were likely the main cause of his discomfort, and the reason why the healing runes hadn't worked.  
The Shadowhunter also had a nasty head injury and one of his legs was broken in a few places and was lying at a variety of crooked angles in front of him. The head injury was a concern, but Magnus needed to get the demon poison from him before he was able to do anything else.

The Warlock rubbed his hands together and magical energy crackled between his palms. Red sparks emanated from his skin, causing an intense vibration that rolled through his body.  
He hovered his hands carefully over Alec's cut torso and he began to mutter the powerful words under his breath, softly and with as much hope as he could muster.

A red light filled the room and sparked, fire-like, around him and bounced from the walls and floor. He slowly, painfully used his magical energy to draw the poison from the Shadowhunter's body.  
Poor Alec writhed against the force in absolute agony. He was no longer sedated; the force of Magnus' efforts and the torturous sensation waking him up. He screamed for his mother, for his father, for his sister and for Jace, his _parabatai_.

Magnus stopped for a moment and Alec ceased screaming. He lay there weak and pale and mumbling incoherently. It reminded Magnus of the fast and fervent praying of those who were about to die. He didn't think the Lightwoods were particularly religious so he was pretty sure he wasn't praying and just delirious; but he had to give him something more for the pain, because it was tearing Magnus' heart out having to watch him go through this.

The Warlock crossed over to the cupboard on the other side of the room, glancing back twice to make sure Alec was alright. He walked back over to him carrying a tray with various medicines, syringes and needles and administered another shot of morphine into the vein in Alec's left arm. He could feel the young Shadowhunter relaxing, his mesmerising blue eyes opening wide. Magnus looked down into those eyes, intrigued by them for a moment. They were the kind of eyes you could drown in; a dark, stormy blue, though the morphine had made his pupils wide and the blue appeared only as a dark ring around the outside of them. He had known someone with eyes like this before. Someone now long gone.

Alec suddenly gripped onto his arm tightly, as if he was holding on for dear life, and Magnus' heart skipped a beat. He had to help this boy. A deep longing pulling inside him and compelling him to save him even if it took everything he had.

Magnus began working again, uttering spells and making red sparks fill the room as he pulled the demon poison away from the helpless Nephilim. He had removed demon poison before, but never that of a Greater Demon. He felt his chest tighten

_It has to work_.

Alec held onto him with a death grip, still screaming occasionally, though the morphine must have had some effect because he wasn't calling out as much now and it looked like he was finally fighting back; fighting for his life.

He must have worked on the Shadowhunter for a long while, though time seemed to eek by as if it were running in slow motion. Magnus supposed it may not have been as long as he thought, it just felt like it because the process was so exhausting, but eventually he had managed to remove enough of the poison to examine Alec's head wound.

It looked serious. There was so much blood and it looked slightly indented, as though his skull had cracked and crushed inwards. He realised he would not be able to heal him completely; Magnus only had a limited amount of energy and simply drawing the poison out had almost completely sapped him. But it was important that he take care of any potential internal injuries. It was a shame that Alec may well have a scar on his forehead after this, but then again Shadowhunters wore their battle scars with pride, so he was sure Alec wouldn't be completely displeased with a bit of a souvenir.

Magnus smoothed Alec's dark hair away from his face gently, taking care that he had a clean view of the injury before he placed his hands around it, feeling the skin of the Shadowhunter's forehead; unlike the rest of his body, his head was burning. The Warlock began talking in a hushed whisper again, conjuring up ancient healing words as blue-coloured flames and sparks pulsed through him and out from his hands. The wound began to close before his eyes and started to heal and look healthy and normal once again. Alec was still holding tightly onto his arm and was still calling out for his parents and siblings, albeit more quietly now.

By the time Magnus had finished with the head injury he was feeling exceptionally drained. Alec was out of danger now, but his leg was still badly broken. Magnus suspected that if it didn't get fixed soon then they wouldn't be able to save it.

He thought about going to get Isabelle; she could draw a healing rune and that should probably do the trick. He turned to leave but Alec's grip on his arm was firm.

"Please…" Alec managed to cry out.

Resolution rose up inside him and Magnus turned and faced the young man. Without really thinking of what he was doing, Magnus trailed his fingers lightly over the side of Alec's face, not being able to resist touching such beauty. The Shadowhunter let out a sigh and gazed up towards Magnus, as if his touch was not just welcomed but expected. It took Magnus a little by surprise, but it made him feel even more determined.

Without another pause for thought, Magnus began the spells again, making Alec's leg click back into place where it was broken. Somehow, Magnus had found a reserve of strength and energy he hadn't known he had until Alec pleaded with him to help.

The sound was awful and Alec started to scream out once more. This time, Magnus moved his arm away from Alec's fist so that he locked hands with him. The Shadowhunter squeezed as tightly as he could and Magnus squeezed back, trying to reassure him and tell him he would be alright.

It felt so natural to be holding his hand; they fitted together perfectly, as if they had been designed as complimenting parts in a lavish mechanism.

Magnus pushed as hard as he could, until he fell on top of the Shadowhunter in an exhausted heap, barely able to move. Alec still held his hand tightly, not loosening his grip, but for the most part he was still, his chest rising and falling slowly and strongly now. It was comforting.

Magnus knew he stayed like that for a few moments, and even in his exhausted state he knew he was breathing in Alec's scent and listening to his strong and steady heartbeat with a desire he had not felt in a long time. He eventually recovered momentarily to heave himself up off Alec's body and sit down in the chair next to the bed. It was awkward with Alec refusing to let go of him, but Magnus managed it, not wanting to lose the contact either.

He was so beautiful. Alec now rested, his stunning blue eyes now masked by his pale-white eyelids in his slumber as Magnus looked on. He was too tired to move because healing Alec had taken all of his strength and energy.

_It was worth it_.

He was not sure how long he stayed like that, staring down at the young man he had just saved.

Why did this boy, this Nephilim, have such a profound effect on him? Magnus had been taken aback at the party when he had first seen him; it wasn't every day you saw someone who looked like _that. _For the briefest of moments, Magnus had thought he'd seen a ghost. But when he spoke to the group and realised who Alec was, he had become intrigued. A shy Lightwood was something of a conundrum. His sister certainly wasn't shy.

If Magnus was being honest with himself, Alexander Lightwood had occupied his thoughts ever since that night, even though he had tried to block him out. It wasn't healthy to obsess about someone like Alec.

Magnus could sense the boy wasn't exactly heterosexual from the way he was staring at some of the male guests, including Magnus. He'd had many years to hone in his gaydar after all. But the young man had seemed so shocked when Magnus complimented him that he had backed off immediately. Alec was very young after all.

But everything Alec had said to him had been so kind and nice, so un-typical of a Lightwood, that it had intrigued him and now the Warlock was worried he was developing a bit of a crush.

_You are way too old to be crushing on a teenager Magnus…_

And now he found himself sat at his bedside, having just saved his life. And he couldn't stop looking at him, examining his features as carefully as he could as he slept, even though tiredness washed over him and compelled him to leave and go to sleep.

The door to the Infirmary opened softly and Isabelle Lightwood tip-toed gingerly into the room. She had been crying, but now seemed more relaxed; hopeful and sad at the same time.

"Is he…" she ventured timidly as she walked towards them.  
"He's going to be fine. I wasn't able to heal everything – there was too much poison and I am only one Warlock. But he is out of danger now, though it may take him a few days to recover fully."

The young girl beamed so brightly it was as if she had lit up the room. She rushed over to the bed but side-stepped around it unexpectedly and flung herself onto Magnus, holding him in an overly-enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you! By the Angel, I can't believe it! _You saved him_. How can I ever repay you?!"  
"You could let me breathe for a start…" She immediately loosened her grip and stood up straight.  
"Sorry," she told him with a wan smile. "Are you ok? You look exhausted."

"I'm fine, I just used up a lot of my energy – the damage was pretty severe."  
"Well can I call you a cab? It's the least I could do. Or I could make you up a bed and you could stay here if you need to rest?"

"That is very kind of you Isabelle, but if it's alright with you I think I should like to stay with Alec until the sun comes up, just to make sure he is alright."

She looked puzzled for a brief moment and then she noticed their hands, still gripping tightly to each other. A knowing smile spread across her lips. Magnus found it infuriating, but let it pass because he was so ridiculously tired and didn't have the energy to come up with a witty response.

"Fine by me. You are truly my brother's White Knight you know!"

Magnus let out a short laugh. He had been described as many things in his time, but never likened to a White Knight, a saviour and a paragon of good.

"You should go and see where the others are and then you should send word to your parents about what has happened to Alec. I'm fine to keep an eye on him and you can take over as nurse at dawn."

She nodded enthusiastically.

She made to leave but then turned back suddenly.

"Magnus, how did you know to come?"

"I have my ways… When you are High Warlock of Brooklyn you have certain connections and are provided with certain information - you wouldn't believe the things you hear on the Downworld grapevine."  
"You have your own _Gossip Network_?" she asked him incredulously.

"Jealous?" he playfully smiled at her.  
"Wow. Yeah…" she told him sincerely before she finally turned around and took her leave.

Magnus stayed with Alec through the darkest part of the night and was still with him s the sun rose and sunlight streamed in through the windows. The golden glow in the room made Alec look terrifically angelic, like a Botticelli painting, despite the few imperfections of his recent injuries.

What was he doing? He had sworn to never get so involved with the lives of Nephilim ever again. Because all he would ever get from that would be heartache. He had cared for their kind before and when one got caught up in their world it was difficult, almost impossible, to walk away. And as an Immortal, Magnus had to walk away a lot.

But despite himself he felt like he was slipping down a giant slope; he was getting caught up in their world once more. And it wasn't just Jocelyn Fairchild and Clary who had pulled him into it with their ridiculous memory-warping spells. It was this young man, this conundrum waiting to be solved, a complex and intriguing person, who was holding his interest now. Not to mention he was stupendously hot.

"Jace?"

Alec had spoken, breathed the name out like a sigh and Magnus felt all the muscles in his body tighten.

"No, it's Magnus…" he whispered, leaning his head close to the injured Shadowhunter's.

Alec still had his eyes closed and his hand holding firmly on to Magnus'. But then he smiled. Magnus knew he wasn't conscious, but it had to be one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen. One moment, this young Shadowhunter had been on the brink of death and now he looked more alive than anyone Magnus had ever seen, despite being asleep.

"Good." Alec breathed, and Magnus couldn't suppress a smile.

**Please let me know what you think! All feedback is so greatly appreciated. Any requests for Malec stories that you would like me to have a go at, please send them my way!  
Laubz x**


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